I'll bet most of us have sat down to negotiate and have come away with war stories of the experience, perhaps feeling smug we got a good deal, but more likely feeling we did OK and got enough to walk away with head high.
Good show!
Ooops! Now we start hearing from the back bench or the the ankle biters about how they could have done so much better than you (snickering heard in the background)
Shimon Peres, the former Israeli leader, had something to say on this:
Those away from the table seem to think they are a better negotiator than those at the table
Hey! Don't blame me.
Another way to look at this is that those without the responsibility can always find what's wrong with what you did; those who are responsbility-free can wax on about "you should do this, or you shouldn't do that" without concern for burden of being actually being accountable for strategic and tactical consequences. It's easier when you not actually in charge.
Getting to the table
Of course, if you're not at the table and you feel the need to criticize, come with a solution or an alternative that's actually practical. Indeed, you might find that such insight might be your ticket to the table!
Read in the library at Square Peg Consulting about these books I've written
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Read my contribution to the Flashblog
